Kadi (Ottoman Empire)

Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
Taxes
Adet-i Ağnam Adet-i deştbani Ashar Avarız Bac-i pazar Bedl-i askeri Cizye Cürm-ü cinayet Damga resmi Gümrük resmi Haraç Ihtisab Ispendje Istira Maktu Mururiye resmi Muskirat resmi Nüzül Otlak resmi Rav akçesi Resm-i arusane Resm-i bennâk Resm-i bostan Resm-i çift Resm-i dönüm Resm-i filori Resm-i ganem Resm-i hınzır Resm-i mücerred Resm-i sicill Rusum-e-eflak Selamet isni Tapu resmi Tekalif-i orfiye Temettu Tuz resmi Zakat
Implementation
Ahidnâme Defter Emin Evkaf-i Hümayun Nezareti Hazine-i Hassa Hazine-i Amire Hane Iltizam Istira Kadı Kanun-i Raya Kanunname Malikâne Merdiban Millet Muafiyet Muhassil Muqata'ah Mütesellim Ottoman Public Debt Administration Regie Company Siyakat Sürsat Tahrir Tanzimat Waqf
v t e

A kadi (Ottoman Turkish: قاضی, kadı) was an official in the Ottoman Empire. In Arabic, the term qāḍī (قاضي) typically refers to judges who preside over matters in accordance with sharia Islamic law; under Ottoman rule, however, the kadi also became a crucial part of the imperial administration. After Mehmed II codified his Kanun, kadis relied on this dynastic secular law, local customs, and sharia to guide their rulings.^[1] Along with adjudicating over criminal and civil matters, the kadi oversaw the administration of religious endowments and was the legal guardian of orphans and others without a guardian.^[2] Although Muslims, in particular Muslim men, possessed a higher status in the kadi's court, non-Muslims and foreigners also had access to the judicial system.^[2] Under the Ottomans' initial system of feudal land grants, the timar system, the kadi served as an important check on the power of the local and regional military lords.^[3] Despite the unquestioned authority of the sultan, kadis possessed a certain degree of autonomy in their rulings.^[4]

Some kadis worked at various positions within the imperial administration but typically a kadi oversaw a jurisdiction called a kadiluk, usually consisting of a city and its surrounding villages. These territories were initially identical with kazas, the subdivisions of the empire's sanjuks, and the kadi oversaw a great deal of administrative work. Over time and particularly after the Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century, the administrative tasks of the kaza were given to a separate kaymakam and the kadi became solely occupied with legal matters.